Oscar's trash can is the private domain of Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street & is situated between the stoop of 123 Sesame Street & Big Bird's nest. Just like Snoopy's doghouse, Oscar's trash can is considerably deeper than one would initially suspect. The seemingly bottomless domain houses a variety of diverse Grouch amenities & luxuries.

Contents

History

In the earliest season 1 episodes, the trash can was atop a big bluecrate adjacent to a wooden crate at right, w/ a few more trash cans around; later on in the season till 1974, the base & the crate were replaced, the latter by a trunk, with a trash pail on top of another crate at left.

Oscar shares his trash can w/ several pets. This diverse menagerie includes goats, a horse, elephants (notably Fluffy), a dolphin, & his favorite pet of all time, his beloved pet worm Slimey. Oscar's niece, Irvine, his girlfriend Grundgetta & other Grouch friends & relatives are frequent visitors.

For the most part very few of the "nice" residents of Sesame Street dare venture into the bowels of the municipal waste container. However, key exceptions have occurred over the years. While Big Bird was helping get ready for Miles' arrival on Sesame Street, a lonely Mr. Snuffleupagus entered the trash can to play catch w/ Fluffy in episode 2122. Wanda Cousteau sought refuge in the trash can in episode 3161 as a hiding place from the hungry Wolfgang the Seal. When Gina is studying to become a vet in episode 3787 she goes down into the trash can through the back door & successfully removes a splinter from Fluffy's foot w/ some elephants' tweezers. In a season 19 insert, Linda sat in the trash can when filling in for an "Ask Oscar" segment.

The inside of Oscar'strash can was later shown in episode 3997, though this time, the inside was a lot more like the normal inside of a trash can. In episode 0799, Oscar installed an Olympic-size swimming pool inside his trash can.

In addition to being able to store a wide variety of items in his trash can, Oscar has also put holes into the bottom & can walk w/ his legs outside of the bottom. He 1st walked like this in episode 0276. He has continued to travel like this for many years, though he has also frequently been seen outside of the trash can. Outside of the show he has traveled w/ his legs sticking out of the bottom in Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, the Sesame Street Live stage shows & Don't Eat the Pictures. This feature was also utilized in the opening dance number in Julie on Sesame Street, where a series of dancing trash cans w/ fuzzy Grouch legs danced w/ Julie Andrews.